ultimatepopculturefandomcom-20200216-history
James Gordon (Gotham)
| title = | family = Peter Gordon (father) † Unnamed mother † Frank Gordon (uncle) † | spouse = | significantother = Sofia Falcone (girlfriend) Valerie Vale (ex-girlfriend) Leslie "Lee" Thompkins (ex-fiancee) Barbara Kean (ex-fiancée) | children = Unborn child (miscarried) † | relatives = | religion = | nationality = American | lbl21 = | data21 = | lbl22 = | data22 = | lbl23 = | data23 = | extra-hdr = Police career | lbl31 = Department | data31 =Gotham City Police Department | lbl32 = Years of service | data32 = 2014–present | lbl33 = Rank | data33 = Captain | lbl34 = | data34 = }} GCPD Captain James "Jim" Gordon is a fictional character that appears in the Fox TV series Gotham. He is portrayed by Ben McKenzie. He is based on the character of the same name created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, that debuted in the first panel of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Fictional character biography Season 1 Gordon is introduced as a homicide detective and Iraq War veteran who has recently been transferred to Gotham City, where he lives with his fiancée, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards). As his first case, Gordon and his partner, Detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are assigned the case of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder. After arriving at the crime scene, he comforts the Waynes' son, Bruce (David Mazouz), who had survived the ordeal, promising him that he would do everything in his power to find the murderer and bring him to justice. During his investigation, Gordon runs afoul of gangster Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), who takes him hostage. Bullock later goes searching for him, and is captured alongside him. The two are freed by Gotham's most powerful mob boss, Carmine Falcone (John Doman), who was an old friend of Gordon's deceased father. In return, Falcone asks Gordon to kill Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), Mooney's underling who had informed on her to the GCPD. Gordon fakes Cobbelpot's death and orders him never to come back to Gotham. After Gordon's gun is used to kill Dick Lovecraft (Al Sapienza), a corrupt billionaire, Mayor Aubrey James (Richard Kind) reassigns him to Arkham Asylum as a guard. He is later reinstated as a homicide detective by Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Peter Scolari) after he captures a serial killer who had escaped from Arkham during a prison riot. Gordon then blackmails Loeb into naming him the President of the Gotham City Police Union. At the end of the series, he discovers that Barbara is in fact a murderer, and begins a relationship with Arkham physician Leslie "Lee" Thompkins (Morena Baccarin). He is also present during a gang war between Mooney and mob boss Sal Maroni (David Zayas), during which Falcone retires and Penguin takes control of Gotham's criminal underworld. Season 2 After the events of the first season, Gordon is demoted to patrol officer by a vengeful Loeb. He is later reinstated as a Detective after Penguin blackmails Loeb into retiring and appointing Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara) to replace him as Commissioner. In "Rise of the Villains: Worse Than a Crime", Gordon, upon realizing that there is a strong possibility that corrupt billionaire Theo Galavan (James Frain) will escape justice after terrorizing the city, takes him to an isolated place outside Gotham, where Penguin beats him mercilessly until Gordon stops him and shoots Galavan dead. In the same episode, he learns that Lee is pregnant with his child. He is later framed for the murder of Carl Pinkley by Edward Nygma, and he breaks his engagement to Lee, who subsequently "loses their baby". He is later broken out by Carmine Falcone, and he chooses to stay at Gotham. He exposes Nygma for the murder of both Pinkney and Kristin Kringle. Gordon eventually helps defend Gotham from the monsters that Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong) has unleashed. Season 3 After apprehending Strange, Gordon leaves Bullock in charge of the GCPD and goes off to find Lee, only to discover she has moved on to a new lover, Mario Calvi, the son of Carmine Falcone. He ends up becoming a bounty hunter after he declined his reinstatement as a detective. Gordon works to hunt down a resurrected Fish Mooney in order to collect the Penguin's bounty, although this act puts others lives at risk. After Fish leaves Gotham, Gordon finds himself in a conflict with a psychopathic hypnotist named Jervis Tetch, who initially hires Gordon to find his sister Alice but then works to ruin him after she dies. This breaks up his relationship with Valerie Vale and puts him into more conflict with Lee, to the point where he has to gun Mario down when the latter becomes infected with Alice Tetch's blood and attempts to kill Lee. After rethinking his life and rejoining the GCPD, Gordon discovers that his late father was a member of the Court of Owls, a secret society that has controlled crime in Gotham for centuries, and he joins it in order to bring it down from the inside. Simultaneously, Gordon is also forced to help find an antidote for a virus linked to Alice Tetch's blood that has infected many citizens of Gotham and driven them to insanity, including himself, Lee, and Nathaniel Barnes. He and Lee eventually come to terms with each other after the chaos subsides and reaffirm their love for each other before Lee leaves the city once again. Career List of assignments * Junior Detective, GCPD Homicide (September 22, 2014 – November 24, 2014) * Guard, Arkham Asylum (January 5, 2015 – January 19, 2015) * Junior Detective, GCPD Homicide (January 19, 2015 – May 4, 2015) * Patrol Officer, Gotham City Police Department (September 21, 2015) * Detective, GCPD Homicide (September 21, 2015–Present) * President of the Gotham City Police Union (March 2, 2015–Present) Ranks * Detective 1st Grade * Officer * Detective 1st Grade * Officer * Detective 1st Grade * Captain Partners * Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD (September 22, 2014 – May 4, 2015) * Officer Franks, GCPD (September 21, 2015) * Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD (September 28, 2015–Present) Portrayal In September 2013, it was reported that Fox was developing a TV series centred on James Gordon's early days as a police detective and the origin stories of various Batman villains. In February 2014, McKenzie was cast as the lead character. When describing his character in an interview, McKenzie stated that Gordon "is a truly honest man. The last honest man in a city full of crooked people. He's not an anti-hero, he’s a true hero – but he will have to compromise." References Category:Characters created by Bill Finger Category:Batman characters Category:Batman in other media Category:Gotham (TV series) characters Category:DC Comics television characters Category:Gotham City Police Department officers Category:Fictional police detectives Category:Fictional United States Army personnel Category:Fictional Iraq War veterans Category:Fictional bounty hunters Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2014